Can I Correct My FAFSA After Submission?

I filled out my FAFSA not too long ago, but I realized I made some mistakes in my financial information. I'm worried these errors might affect my financial aid eligibility or the amount I'll ultimately receive. Is it possible to correct my FAFSA after I've already submitted it? If so, what is the process like, and are there any particular deadlines or potential consequences I should be aware of?

Absolutely, you can definitely correct your FAFSA after submission. It's quite common for students to discover errors after they've initially submitted the form, and the federal government provides a pretty streamlined process for submitting corrections.

To correct your FAFSA, you'll need to go to the FAFSA website. If you completed your FAFSA online, all you have to do is log into your account, locate the "FAFSA Follow-up" section, and click on "Make FAFSA Corrections." Once in the correction process, you'll need to create a save key, different from your FSA ID. The save key will let you navigate in and out of the form without losing any of the corrections you made.

Updates should be made as soon as mistakes are discovered. There's no strict deadline for making corrections, but financial aid is often distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, so it's to your benefit to make them as soon as possible. The one deadline to remember is the end of the academic year, as you won't be able to make corrections after the academic year has ended.

However, please note that certain changes may cause your financial aid offer to be recalculated. For example, if you initially reported an income figure that was too high, and the corrected income is lower, this could potentially increase your aid eligibility. On the other hand, if you initially reported an income figure that was too low, a corrected, higher income could potentially reduce your aid.

Don't worry, though – schools understand that mistakes happen, and they're generally quite willing to work with students who are proactive about reporting errors and making the necessary amendments.